Report: PL midfielder agrees to join Barcelona despite ‘powerful’ Arsenal offer

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Arsenal reportedly made a ‘powerful’ offer to sign Ilkay Gundogan from Manchester City this summer, but the German has agreed to join Barcelona instead.

The upcoming transfer window is going to be a big one for the Gunners, who are keen to close the gap between themselves and Pep Guardiola’s side.

Central midfield is Mikel Arteta’s priority and they have been linked with plenty of names. Gundogan is one of them, but if Sport is to be believed, Arsenal are set to miss out.

Ilkay Gundogan agrees to join Barcelona instead of Arsenal

Since joining Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2016, Ilkay Gundogan has been a ‘phenomenal‘ player in England.

He has won five Premier League titles for City and made a name for himself as one of the best midfielders in the country and in Europe.

Now, Gundogan has less than a month left on his contract, and his future has been up in the air for a while now. Manchester City have been desperate to keep him, while Arsenal and Barcelona have been heavily linked.

Sport claim that a deal between Gundogan and Barca is ‘practically finished’. The German has reportedly agreed a three-year contract at the Camp Nou, giving the Catalans the ‘total OK’.

The report further reveals that Manchester City pushed until the end to keep him, while Arsenal made a ‘powerful financial offer’ to convince him to move to the Emirates.

Sadly for them, Gundogan rejected both and is said to have made his mind up about moving to Spain.

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Arsenal’s plan seems to be to sign at least two new midfielders this summer.

The Gunners were already short of options in the middle of the park, and to make them lighter, Granit Xhaka is expected to leave the club for Bayer Leverkusen in the coming days.

Arsenal really have to bring in two solid names, and Gundogan would’ve been perfect. The German is an incredible player, has bags of experience under his belt and would fit Arteta’s system perfectly.

He would’ve been a great signing, but sadly for Arsenal, it looks like he is no longer an option now.